Claude Gay

Claude Gay

Claude Gay
Born 18 March 1800
Draguignan, France
Died 29 November 1873
Flayosc, France
Nationality French
Fields Botany Geology History Zoology

Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (March 18, 1800 – November 29, 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator.[1] This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geography. The Cordillera Claudio Gay in the Atacama Region of Chile is named after him.

Research and travels

He first went to Paris to study medicine, but he quickly abandoned this idea to become a researcher in natural history. In 1828, he went to Chile to teach physics and natural history at a college in Santiago. In 1829, he accepted a position as a researcher for the Chilean government to carry out a scientific survey of the country.[2]

He returned to France in 1832, and gave his collections to the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.

He returned to Chile in 1834 and explored the country again for four years. After having visited Peru in 1839, he lived in Santiago, where he wrote the multi-volume Historia fisica y politica de Chile. In 1841, Chile conferred the Chilean nationality to him, and his opus work was published by the Chilean government between 1844 and 1871.[3]

Gay returned to France in 1843, and in May, 1856, he was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He made a journey through Russia and Tartary from 1856-1858.[2] At the end of 1858, he was sent by the French Academy of Sciences to study the mining system of the United States. He returned to France in 1860, and in 1863, he journeyed to Chile for the last time.

Honours

Portray of Claude Gay in Draguignan.

He is commemorated in the name of a number of plants and animals, including the flower Montiopsis gayana and the rufous-bellied seedsnipe Attagis gayi.

The journal of the Botanical Society of Chile, Gayana, is named in his honour and published by the Universidad de Concepción, Chile.[4]

Works

References

  1. ↑ Travel Guide: Chile Experience by Josh Howell Second Edition. 7 February 2007 ISBN 978-956-309-028-4
  2. 1 2 Wilson, James Grant; John Fiske (1900). Appleton's cyclopaedia of American biography (PDF). New York: D. Appleton. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Gay, Claudio (1844–1871). Historia fisica y politica de Chile segun documentos adquiridos en esta republica durante doce anos de residencia en ella y publicada bajo los auspicios del supremo gobierno. Biodiversity Heritage Lilbrary.
  4. ↑ Gayana Botanica. "Home page". Universidad de Concepción - Chile. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Author Query for 'Gay'". International Plant Names Index.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claude Gay.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, August 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.